After the trial of Lucius and Mors was concluded and they were handed over to the Vanquishers for execution...
In the crowd, someone suddenly remembered something and shouted,
"Caesar! Lucius replaced the flint with an Ether Catalyst and threw it into Cinder Lake! Doesn't that mean the lake is done for?"
The moment those words were spoken, an uproar broke out.
Everyone had been focused on the "traitor" until now. At first, they thought it was Caesar, only to realize later that the real traitors were Lucius and Mors. Now that they'd calmed down, they suddenly remembered that the Ether Catalyst had been thrown into the lake—logically, Cinder Lake should've been destroyed.
Immediately, spectators from the Old Oil Field area began crying out in despair.
Facing the growing speculation, Caesar raised her voice,
"Everyone, don't worry! Cinder Lake is fine. I already threw the flint into the lake and blew up the Ether Crystals..."
With that, the crowd collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
But then someone else spoke up.
"Miss Jolly Jenny, we haven't finished watching the footage Caesar brought back! Hurry up and play the rest—we want to see how she blew up the Ether Crystals!"
"Yeah! When Lucius threw the Ether Catalyst into the lake, it basically sealed it off. How did Caesar break through that?"
"Hurry up and show it to us!"
"The distance was way too far. There's no way she just tossed it in... don't tell me she jumped in with it?"
Amid the rising chatter, Jolly Jenny picked up the mic.
"Hearing all this, I'm just as curious now. Let's take a look at how Caesar blew up Cinder Lake..."
Amid thunderous cheers, she signaled the staff to continue playing the drone footage Caesar had brought back.
It picked up right after Pompey collapsed...
Not long after Pompey fell, the sound of motorcycles rang out—it was Caesar and Billy arriving at the lake.
Onscreen, Caesar rushed to Pompey's side the moment she saw him, but it was already too late to save him...
The crowd gasped when they saw Pompey transform into a massive high-level Ethereal.
"So strong... that's a high-level Ethereal! Can Caesar beat that?"
"Of course she can! She's not alone—she's got Clorinde and the robot Billy with her. And since they made it back alive, they must've beaten Pompey's Ethereal form!"
"Look! Caesar's gaining the upper hand!"
"Lucius is scum. He must've left Pompey here on purpose, letting him get corrupted so he'd become an Ethereal and attack the Sons of Calydon. A death sentence was too light—he should've been fed to the Ethereals in the Hollows..."
As the crowd whispered among themselves, the footage showed Caesar, Clorinde, and Billy finally defeating the Ethereal form of Uncle Pompey.
But in a corner of the screen, the Ether Crystals had nearly sealed off the entire lake. Only a small area near the center remained untouched.
At that moment, even the spectators watching the footage held their breath. No one had any idea how they were going to destroy the Ether Crystals.
Then, just as tension peaked, Caesar was seen hopping onto a motorcycle. Ignoring the shouts from Billy and Clorinde, she charged straight toward the lake.
That moment stunned everyone. Even Lucy, Piper, and the others watching stood up in shock.
They stared wide-eyed as Caesar, riding along the ancient pipes from a bygone era, sped toward the heart of the burning lake.
Just like the legends...
She was carrying the flintstone, riding into the flames.
Lucy blurted out instinctively, "No—!"
Billy quickly said, "Lucy, relax. Caesar's not going to die..."
But how could Lucy not be worried? "..."
Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Caesar and the motorcycle plunged into the lake, swallowed whole by the roaring fire.
Billy was crying in the footage...
At that point, everyone thought Caesar was dead.
But they quickly realized—Caesar was right there with them, having already returned from the Hollows. There was no way she was dead.
Lucy looked anxiously at the screen, then at Caesar, who stood nearby with a silly grin on her face.
She suddenly understood.
When the Proxy said Caesar had died, he wasn't joking. Caesar had really "died" once...
Lucy stared at Caesar nervously. "You..."
Caesar smiled. "I'm fine. Just keep watching."
Unbelievable. She could still smile in a situation like that.
Sure enough, just as Caesar had said, a spatial rift appeared in the sky in the footage, and Caesar dropped out of it.
From that moment on, she successfully blew up the Ether Crystals and resolved the crisis at Cinder Lake.
Seeing Caesar miraculously survive, the audience burst into thunderous applause.
Some even started chanting,
"Caesar—Caesar—hero Caesar—!"
In that instant, the entire crowd swarmed toward Caesar, cheering her name and treating her like the great hero of the Outer Ring.
Caesar beamed brightly, scratching her head as she smiled and said, "Thanks, thanks."
The cheers still hadn't died down.
"Caesar must be heaven's chosen. To come back alive from that? Unreal..."
"Only someone like Caesar is worthy to be the queen of the Motorcycle Clan..."
"The Motorcycle Clan charges ahead—never backing down, not even against blazing flames..."
"Caesar! Caesar! Are the Sons of Calydon still recruiting? I want to join!"
"Holy crap, how is this even possible? She fell into the flames! How did she survive?"
"When she fell from the sky, it looked like she was wrapped in a giant rock. What was that?"
"It must've been divine protection—like something out of an old-era movie..."
No one could explain how Caesar had survived such a miracle.
But everyone had seen her accomplish it with their own eyes—a ride no one thought possible.
Others might not know the truth.
But the Sons of Calydon and the people from Hare's House recognized the markings on that stone.
They were the same as the ones on Sam Li's birdcage.
It had to be Sam Li who saved Caesar.